Top 7 Email Marketing Strategies To Increase Open Rates
The success of an email marketing campaign depends on how many of the emails on your list are actually opened and read. With the average person receiving 121 emails daily, it can be challenging to stand out in the inbox.
However, certain businesses are able to achieve higher open rates by implementing effective strategies. In this article, we will explore the concept of open rates and provide the top 7 strategies for improving the open rate of your emails.
What is an Open Rate in Email Marketing
Email open rate is the metric that shows the percentage of your emails that actually get opened by the recipients. The average email open rate according to statistics for all industries is 21.33%
Tracking this metric effectively is very important to the success of your campaign. It shows you exactly how interested your audience is in your offers. You can also figure out how to present the offer to different audiences.
A few other metrics depend on your email open rate. Click-through, for example, can only be possible when recipients open your email. And they can only buy after they’ve clicked through the order link on your email.
Considering this dependency on your email open rate, you need to adopt effective strategies to achieve the highest rate possible. Remember, your bottom line depends on it.
By simply segmenting your email list, you can increase the open rate by 203% and your revenue by up to 760%
Email Marketing Strategies To Increase Open Rates
You can improve your email open rate and the overall impact of your campaign using these strategies.
1. Segmenting your email list
Segmenting your email list makes it easy to create email subject lines and content that suit different groups of audiences. By simply segmenting your email list, you can increase the open rate by 203% and your revenue by up to 760%, according to HubSpot.
You can consider segmenting your list based on the following criteria:
- Demographics
- Customer behavior
- User Engagement
- Abandoned-cart segmenting
With a number of subscribers in these lists, you can create more personalized email subject lines and content. Personalization adds a golden touch to marketing.
2. Precise timing and frequency
Optimizing the timing and frequency of your email campaigns is crucial for their success. Consider their typical email-checking habits to reach your audience at the right moment. Weekdays tend to be more popular for checking emails, with a peak in activity between 10 am and 3 pm. Additionally, be mindful of the frequency of your emails. Sending too few can result in your audience forgetting about you while sending too many can lead to frustration and potentially being flagged as spam. To find the right balance, aim for a frequency of 2-4 emails per month, depending on your industry and audience preferences.
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This is the single most critical factor that affects your email open rate. Because a subject line is the only thing, except your campaign name, that’s visible in recipients’ notification tray and mailbox, it will determine whether they open it or swipe it off their busy lives.
You can combine this strategy with mailing list segmentation, and create subject lines that can best stimulate each audience segment. This is can have a huge impact on your email open rate.
4. Build your list organically
A purchased email list is an email marketing epidemic and many marketers are infected. Unfortunately, buying a long list of emails is not very helpful.
People are less likely to open unsolicited emails. When your target audience signs up to join your email list voluntarily, they are more likely to open emails from you.
5. Personalization
Generic subject lines and email content are less likely to get opened by recipients. With 121 emails sweeping into our inbox, we are very unlikely to show interest in an email that appears to be targeted at a thousand other people.
Adding customer-specific information can make your email more precisely directed to them. You can collect personal information, like the first name, in your mailing list and include it in the email to make it more personal.
Segmenting can also increase personalization since the targets in a given segment may share a few things in common. For one, they all may have abandoned their shopping cart.
You can take personalization a step further by micro-segmenting your list. By segmenting your recipients based on more precise criteria will help you craft emails that speak to the individual recipient in ways that can’t be ignored.
6. Acquire new subscribers
There’s no denying that regular emails in the inbox get old. As subscribers get old and used to your emails, they become less likely to open them.
On the contrary, new subscribers are still getting used to the style and allure of your emails. So, they are more likely to anticipate and open them when they arrive.
By actively seeking new subscribers, you could give your email open rate a nudge in the right direction: upwards.
7. A/B testing
Launching an email marketing campaign can be really exciting with several ideas flooding your mind on how you can increase the efficiency of your campaign. Interestingly, you can’t try all the ideas; at least not simultaneously.
To find out which subject line will stimulate your recipients more, you can consider using the A/B testing methodology. You can use this A/B testing to determine which strategies will generate the highest open rate.
To do this, you can divide your mailing list into two categories. With each category, you can test what sending time and email frequency will generate the highest open rate. You can also use A/B testing to find the right subject lines for your email, types of target audiences, and many more.
You can learn more about A/B Testing here.
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Email frequency best practices
It’s difficult to figure out how often you must email your list. Too seldom may get you forgotten and too often may get you thrown out of their inbox. Therefore, determining the right frequency of your email is a game-changer. It will help you stay in their lives long enough to matter and short enough not to be a bug.
You should consider trying these to find a balance in your email frequency.
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Let your audience know what to expect and give them some control.
Usually, impactful email campaigns begin with a breakdown of what the journey will look like to the recipient. This will inform them of the frequency of the emails that will be coming their way. It’s important to ask whether they are okay with the frequency. Feedback will help you create a more personalized and comfortable campaign.
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Use automation for better workflow.
Create email automation based on the feedback you collect from your recipients. Automated workflows also help you keep your list organized. It could automatically segment your list and help you decide who should (or shouldn’t) receive more emails.
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Define your industry benchmark for effective email frequency.
You can use industry benchmarks to determine what your competitors are doing. Remember that you are competing against them for your audience’s attention. But that doesn’t warrant you spamming your audience. When checking out industry benchmarks, look out for businesses with the highest open rates. It’s a good sign that their recipients aren’t nauseated by their email frequency.
Top email marketing tools to track open rates
We highly recommend the following tools from myriad email marketing solutions for small and growing businesses.
Conclusion
Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing approaches today. However, the success of your campaign is significantly affected by your email open rate. Top marketing professionals focus on this metric seriously because they know that recipients have to open your email to get converted.
The seven email marketing strategies in this article are considered some of the most effective strategies in the industry. Consider incorporating them into your campaign. And, most importantly, use an effective email marketing tool with excellent tracking, automation, and segmenting features.
